Most readers recall the pandemic and its consequences on the business sector, with many restaurants and bars around the world having to close down. With regards to art, the closure of galleries did not stop artists from painting, if anything some would say it gave them more time and material to invest into their artworks. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for art enthusiasts/exhibitors.

Exhibition space is already something that isn’t simple to acquire, for a solo collection no less, so one can imagine the gut punch it must’ve been for artists whose exhibitions were put on hold. To combat this, the founders of Gallery23, Rachel Said and Alexia Gingell Littlejohn, put their thinking caps on and came up with ‘Collectively Solo | 2020’.

Thus, they compiled the works of 7 artists who were scheduled to have solo exhibitions, as well as some who had displayed their work previously, and created one major collection in December 2020. Of course, there wasn’t any sort of consistent theme or style between all of the art, although the gallerists made sure to choose pieces that “flowed well together”.

Given the pandemic restrictions, viewings could only happen by appointment, although a digital version was made available online. Although as curator Rachel Said stated, “…that physical connection that allowed you to get lost in a landscape or abstract piece when standing at the gallery. This personal connection is hard to replicate virtually”.